


misunderstandings

by euphorickiri



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Humor, my babies deserve more attention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-02-23 13:50:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23679109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/euphorickiri/pseuds/euphorickiri
Summary: in which kourtney and ashlyn are oblivious, and their friends just sit back and watch as they figure everything out
Relationships: Ashlyn Caswell/Kourtney
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28





	misunderstandings

“Big Red, I love you, but _please_ for the love of god shut the fuck up.”

He let out a gasp of offense and Ashlyn rolled her eyes at his dramatics. She leaned back against her locker and turned her attention back towards the scene in front of her. She felt her stomach twist watching Kourtney laugh at something EJ said, leaning against the older teen as she did. 

Ashlyn didn’t interact with Kourtney a lot when rehearsals were going on. During tech week rehearsals, however, Ashlyn accidentally broke the glasses from her Miss Darbus costume and had to go to Kourtney to get them fixed.

She was afraid of how the other girl was going to react but was surprised by how nice Kourtney was about it. Ashlyn apologized profusely but Kourtney just laughed and assured her it was fine. 

That’s when it started.

They smiled when they saw each other in the hallway, talked during rehearsals, and even when they were with the rest of the cast, Ashlyn constantly felt like they were in their old little world.

But then, EJ happened.

Ever since the musical ended, Ashlyn noticed they started to grow closer to the point where Kourtney was constantly coming over to hang out with EJ. It never bothered Ashlyn when EJ had girls over. But Kourtney?

Ashlyn didn’t consider herself to be a selfish person, but over time, she began to wish that Kourtney would look at her the way she looks at EJ. But in what world would that happen? EJ was perfect and Ashlyn was just, Ashlyn.

She never even stood a chance.

“I’m just saying you should talk to her,” Big Red tried to reason.

“What’s the point?” Ashlyn scoffed. “She’s clearly happy with EJ.”

“How do you know that if you don’t _talk to her_ ,” Big Red shot back.

“Can we please just stop talking about this already? I don’t want to think about it anymore,” she begged.

Big Red looked like he wanted to argue but complied. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her and they made their way to their next class. Kourtney watched them leave together with a frown on her face. EJ stopped rambling when he saw how sad the other teen looked.

“I’m guessing you didn’t talk to Ashlyn?” he asked.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Kourtney replied quietly.

“Please tell me your joking,” EJ deadpanned.

Kourtney narrowed her eyes. “I’ll talk to Ashlyn when _you_ talk to Howie.” 

The senior’s face turned red and he looked away with a pout on his face. Kourtney laughed and continued to tease him to try and distract herself. Out of all the people at school, the _last_ person Kourtney expected to befriend was EJ, especially after everything that happened with Nini. But despite all of the drama, all of the theater kids bonded and became close. 

What was _really_ surprising was Nini telling her about her newfound crush on Gina. She and Ricky agreed they worked better as friends, and apparently Ricky was starting to see someone else.

It was a lot to take in at once, but she was happy for them.

But out of everything, the _last_ thing Kourtney expected was Ashlyn. The only thing she knew about the other girl was that she was EJ’s cousin. She never saw her around school and barely interacted with her during rehearsals.

But then Ashlyn walked up to her with broken glasses, and Kourtney felt her heart skip a beat.

The only people who knew about Kourtney’s crush were EJ and Nini. When Nini wasn’t available to hang out, Kourtney found herself going to the senior’s house.

And if she insisted on hanging out at his place just because Ashlyn would be there? EJ never questioned it.

But as much as she saw Ashlyn, the other girl was always with Big Red. Kourtney felt her heart break when he was the one who got the flowers for Ashlyn after opening night. They’ve always been together ever since, and Kourtney couldn’t help but feel jealous of how happy Big Red made her. _She_ wanted to be the person to make Ashlyn happy. But compared to Big Red, Kourtney didn’t think she stood a chance.

The bell rang above them and EJ linked his arm with hers as they walked to class.

“Just so you know, I _have_ talked to Howie,” EJ said proudly.

“Going to Big Red’s pizza shop and ordering pizza from him doesn’t count,” Kourtney deadpanned.

He flipped her off with a blush on his face as she started to laugh again. The rest of the day was uneventful and Kourtney just wanted to go _home_. She stopped by her locker to pick up some of her books and noticed Big Red standing alone across the hall. Her eyebrows furrowed in suspicion when she saw Ricky creeping up behind him. Kourtney rolled her eyes when he scared Big Red, smirking when the shorter teen punched his shoulder in retaliation.

What she _didn’t_ expect was for Ricky to lean down and kiss him.

Her jaw dropped when Big Red kissed him back without even hesitating. They pulled apart and smiled at each other which just made her blood boil. The _last_ person she expected to cheat was Big Red, and yet here he was. 

How could he do this to someone as wonderful as Ashlyn?

Kourtney slammed her locker shut harshly, catching their attention. Her anger grew when they didn’t even look fazed and waved at her.

“Hey Kourt!” Big Red exclaimed.

“Is that all you have to say?” she snapped as she stormed up to them.

His smile dropped but he didn’t look guilty at all. He just looked confused which frustrated Kourtney even more.

“What are you talking about?” Ricky asked.

“ _Ashlyn_ , I’m talking about Ashlyn!” Kourtney replied harshly.

“Still not following,” Big Red said hesitantly. 

Kourtney resisted the urge to strangle the both of them and took a deep breath to try and calm herself down. “Not _only_ did you have the nerve to cheat on Ashlyn, but you don’t even have the decency to hide it? Does she really mean that little to you? She’s one of the sweetest people in this hellhole of a school and you’ve done nothing but string her along! I never expected this from you, and it’s honestly taking everything in me not to punch you right now. Ashlyn deserves so much better than you.”

Ricky still looked lost as Kourtney continued to rant. Big Red realized quickly what was going on and had to resist the urge to laugh.

As smart as his friends were, they were dense when it came to their feelings.

“Kourtney, I think there’s been a huge misunderstanding-”

“Ashlyn oh my god let me _go_!”

The teens turned towards the commotion and saw Ashlyn dragging EJ across the hallway with a tight grip on his arm. Gina and Carlos were right behind them trying to reason with Ashlyn.

“Ash-”

“I don’t want to hear it.”

“But it wasn’t-”

She glared at them and they stopped trying to fight her. Ashlyn shoved EJ in front of Kourtney and elbowed him. He cleared his throat awkwardly as his face started to turn red from embarrassment.

“Ashlyn overheard me telling Gina and Carlos about my plan to ask Howie out,” he muttered.

“Does it involve pizza?” Kourtney asked sarcastically, surprising Ashlyn.

Why isn’t she mad???

“No,” EJ replied, “At least not the first plan.”

“You have multiple plans?” Kourtney scoffed.

EJ scratched the back of his neck awkwardly as his face continued to heat up. “You can never be too safe.”

“He’s lying, all of them involve pizza,” Gina chimed in with a smirk on her face.

“Porter I swear to god-”

“Okay, what the hell is going on?” Ashlyn demanded. “Kourtney, EJ _cheated_ on you! Why aren’t you mad?”

“ _WHAT_?!” they both exclaimed.

EJ and Kourtney looked at each other and gagged at the accusation. Carlos and Gina were laughing and Ashlyn just looked confused.

“Ash, we’re not dating,” EJ said, “What made you even think that?”

“I would launch myself off a cliff before I date an average-looking skinny white boy,” Kourtney deadpanned. 

EJ’s jaw dropped at the insult while Ashlyn started to feel embarrassed for getting mad at her cousin over nothing. Big Red gave her a look that screamed “I told you so” which only made her feel even worse. Kourtney noticed and glared, pointing an accusing finger towards him.

“Don’t act all smug,” she snapped, “ _You_ cheated on Ashlyn!”

“It’s kind of hard to cheat when we were never dating in the first place,” Big Red said as he tried to hold back his laughter.

Kourtney faced Ricky with a sheepish smile. “So the person Nini told me you were seeing-”

“-was Big Red,” he finished.

Kourtney and Ashlyn looked at each other before facing EJ and Big Red. The boys flinched back when they both started yelling out accusations.

“But you’re with her all the time!”

“You got her flowers!”

“She always comes over to hang out with you!”

“You’ve basically been attached by the hip since the musical ended!”

EJ and Big Red were still being bombarded with questions when Nini and Seb found them. They walked up to Carlos, Ricky and Gina who were just watching everything go down in amusement.

“Have they put it together yet?” Nini asked.

“Give them a couple more minutes,” Carlos replied.

By the time Big Red and EJ cleared things up, both Ashlyn and Kourtney wanted to die from embarrassment. They faced each other with awkward smiles on their faces as their friends resisted the urge to laugh.

“So you and EJ were never really dating?” Ashlyn asked slowly.

“No,” Kourtney replied, “And neither were you and Big Red?”

“Nope.”

Their friends took this as a cute to leave them alone. Ashlyn leaned against the lockers and slid down until she reached the floor. Kourtney did the same and they sat side by side in silence.

“Why did you care if I was with EJ in the first place?” Kourtney asked quietly.

Ashlyn groaned and hid her face in her hands. She took a deep breath and faced the other girl, her breath getting caught in her throat when she saw how Kourtney was looking at her. Ashlyn tried to say something but she couldn’t get herself to form any words.

“Ash?” Kourtney questioned in concern.

“Why did you care if I was with Big Red?” Ashlyn rushed out.

Now it was Kourtney’s turn to be embarrassed and she felt a blush forming on her face from the accusation. She tried to say something, but one look at Ashlyn and she could barely form a sentence. Both of them looked away from each other and cursed as they tried to pull themselves together.

Why was this so _hard_?

Ashlyn liked Kourtney. She knew that for a fact. So why the hell couldn’t she just spit it out? She couldn’t help but let her mind wander back to EJ and she felt like slapping herself. They weren’t dating, that much was clear, but that didn’t change the fact of how happy he made Kourtney.

Could Ashlyn even do that herself?

When it comes to people. EJ always knows the right thing to say. When it comes to certain situations Ashlyn knows what to do, like for all of her clubs. But when it came to her feelings? She never knew what to say. 

Ashlyn looked at Kourtney and smiled slightly when she noticed how cute the other girl was when she was thinking. Yeah, Ashlyn wasn’t EJ. But she was new at this and she had to be okay with messing up.

She just had to speak from her heart and hope for the best.

Kourtney faced Ashlyn who blushed when the other girl caught her staring. She took a shaky breath and tried to piece her thoughts together.

She had a crush on Ashlyn, she _knew_ that. Kourtney was not known for being shy, but right now all she wanted to do was hide somewhere from how embarrassed she felt. When it came to things like fashion or giving Nini advice, she always knew what to do. But she’s never been in a relationship before and all of this was new.

Ashlyn was her first crush. She knew things wouldn’t be perfect but she wanted to try her best not to mess things up. But if she didn’t say something right now, she would never know.

It’s just like ripping off a band-aid, right? 

“I like you!” they both rushed out at once.

Both of the girls froze before laughing, looking at each other in awe.

“Are we stupid?” Ashlyn asked.

“Kind of, yeah,” Kourtney replied teasingly. 

Ashlyn hesitated before reaching out to hold Kourtney’s hand. She smiled and squeezed her hand reassuringly. 

“I have to warn you, I don’t know exactly what I’m doing,” Ashlyn admitted.

“Neither do I,” Kourtney said gently, “But we can figure it out. Together.”

Ashlyn knocked her shoulder against the other girl’s with a smirk. “What team?”

“Are you serious-”

“What team?”

“..... Wildcats.”

Kourtney rolled her eyes with a fond smile on her face as Ashlyn giggled. They got up and walked out of the school, still holding hands. Their friends peaked from around the corner and silently celebrated.

It was about time. 

**Author's Note:**

> kourtlyn nation, this one was for you :)


End file.
